9. Negative Approach – Tied Down
I was into hardcore so I’d heard about Negative Approach in fanzines. That was the main way you heard things back then; you’d read about something from Touch and Go or something, you’d send away for it as a mail order. Waiting to receive it made it more exciting than now, when you can hear anything instantly; but I was also 15, and really into records, so the whole thing was a lot more intense back then anyway. I saw them play live in Boston, and they were great. [Laughs] I thought it was really scary; the singer’s this big skinhead and the way he’s screaming looks really menacing. I saw them after they reformed in 2006, too, and they were still awesome. And he’s still scary now. It’s not that he’s overly big, or anything; it’s his voice and the emotion he gets in it.